Tomorrow is Another Day
by ProtegoTotallum
Summary: What happens after Severus called Lily a Mudblood.
1. Chapter 1

_Mudblood!_ Lily could not keep the memory of his voice out of her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop remembering what had happened today. _Mudblood, Mudblood, Mudblood._ He wasn't her Sev anymore, the Sev she had met in a dusty playground scorched by the summer sun so long ago. She'd known it for a long time now, but she hadn't wanted to realize who he'd become.

Lily remembered another memory, a cool, peaceful, green one. _"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?"_ she had asked him, when they were lying under that tree, Sev telling her all about Hogwarts. _"No. It doesn't make any difference."_ he had said. She had been worrying about that, being different from everyone else. He'd reassured her back then, and now he was the one insulting her for it.

Lily tossed and turned in her bed, remembering his face an hour ago, when he had tried to apologize. Sev had even come to Gryffindor Tower. Lily wondered why he had bothered to apologize; she knew it was what he truly thought of people with her blood status. But no matter how many times he said sorry, it still wouldn't change a thing. She'd pretended it hadn't hurt, but it did. Lily had pitied him, alone, awkward, stumbling through life with barely any friends. She couldn't now. He'd brought it upon himself. If she had hoped to change him, to guide him through life, to make him happier, there was no chance of that now.

There were a few times when she thought she might have drifted off, but when dawn came she rose, tired, bleary eyed, yawning from lack of sleep. Lily purposely stayed in her bed as long as she could; she didn't want to talk to anyone. She quickly dressed and grabbed her books, running out of the empty dormitory. A few sixth and seventh years who didn't have class lingered in the Common Room. Lily rushed down to the Great Hall and stumbled into a seat by her friends, snatching up a piece of toast.

"Had a long sleep?" Mary asked distractedly as Lily crammed the slice of toast in her mouth. Mary had her notes out and was feverishly studying for their Transfiguration O.W.L. that would be held later in the day.

"I was just tired from all that studying," Lily said. It was really only a half lie.

"Sure you were," Cynthia pounced at the opportunity. "I heard you last night. What was all that about with Snape?"

"He came to apologize. For yesterday." Lily sighed. "I wouldn't have talked to him, but he was threatening to sleep outside."

"Good! Don't talk to him ever again!" Cynthia said loudly. "That disgusting, greasy, snivelling pig!"

"Keep your voice down!"Lily shushed her. "Nobody needs to know everything about my life!"

Mary looked up. "Why was he so desperate to speak to you last night as well? It was so late. Almost everyone had gone to bed, it was just me and some random seventh years in the common room."

"I have no idea, and I don't really care." Lily said curtly. "I'm not going to talk to him ever again."

"He's always seemed a bit desperate to talk to you." Mary observed thoughtfully.

"That's because he's just plain creepy." Cynthia said scornfully. "He obviously doesn't care about you. If he did, he wouldn't have called you that!"

It hurt to think about that. Lily missed the old Sev; she didn't care for the new one. Lily wanted so badly to believe that he was still the same person she had met long ago in that dusty, hot, sun-baked playground. But she knew he wasn't.

"Good morning, Evans," said someone nonchalantly from behind her as he passed by the table. Lily knew who it was. She ignored James Potter as she always did. Every morning he greeted her when she came down to breakfast. She'd stopped paying attention a long time ago. It had become something of a routine.

Out of habit, Lily glanced over at the Slytherin table. Sev was engrossed in his notes, not taking notice of anything else, his breakfast only half eaten. Lily felt a slight jump in her stomach when she remembered what had happened yesterday. _Mudblood_. She shook herself.

"Can we go?" Lily asked, breaking the silence. "It's nice outside and we'll be in here almost all day anyways for the exam."

Mary looked up. "You've barely had anything to eat."

"Just nerves. I can't eat anything else." Lily said. "Please?"

"Yes, let's." Cynthia jumped up. "At least this one's the last exam, and then we can go home and not worry about the results until July!"

Lily hastily gathered up her notes and stuffed them haphazardly into her bag. She tapped her foot impatiently while she waited for Cynthia and Mary to gather up their belongings. I hope Sev doesn't notice me, she thought. She really didn't want to talk to him.

Too late. He looked up at the sound of Cynthia's loud voice and his eyes met Lily's. For a second, they looked at each other, his surprised black ones meeting her green ones, until Lily quickly looked away. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw him get up from his seat.

"Hurry up! Sev is coming over here and I don't want to talk to him!" Lily said, annoyed. She turned and strode quickly from the Great Hall, Cynthia and Mary following behind her. She walked briskly down to their customary tree by the lake.

"Trying to stay away from him now?" Cynthia questioned Lily.

"Obviously. You would be too."

"Good!" said Cynthia loudly. "He's horrible. I don't even know why you were friends with him in the first place."

Lily sighed. "He was my best friend. You honestly don't know what he was like. He was so much nicer before he came to Hogwarts."

"He's friends with Mulciber." Mary shivered as she said it. She never liked talking about what Mulciber had attacked her with, and her friends were kind enough to not mention it.

"You should have ditched him long ago. He's no good, that's what we've always been telling you." Cynthia told her.

"Maybe I should have," Lily said, wondering what would have happened if she had.

"He's just a scumbag! Anyone who talks to one of my friends like that deserves to suffer!" Cynthia went off into one of her long rants about Sev, Mulciber, and Dark Magic in general. Lily only half listened, reviewing her notes instead. She was glad to have so much studying to do, something to concentrate on. Anything to keep her mind away from what had happened yesterday.

After a while, Mary spoke up. "We should go now. Otherwise, we'll be late."

"We've got plenty of time," Cynthia grumbled.

"You're always late. I never am." Mary told her. They set off for the Great Hall again, to take their Transfiguration O.W.L. All the fifth years were gathered outside, feverishly reciting lists of incantations and laws.

"Hello, Evans," James said pleasantly.

"Go away, Potter. You're so desperate it's painful to watch." Lily said without looking at him.

"Only for you."

"I don't care. I'll never go out with you as long as I live." The doors of the Great Hall opened and Lily swept through them, trying to put as much distance between her and James Potter.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily stumbled out of the Great Hall, her mind whirling from her Transfiguration O.W.L., following Cynthia and Mary as they wandered out of the castle. They strolled across the ground to the shade of their favourite tree by the lake, the warm summer sun streaming through the few puffy clouds that drifted across the sky. "I don't think I did very well at that. I ran out of time and I missed 3 questions! Ugh. Good thing it's just the practical next, and I'm good at that." Lily grumbled.

"Same. I completely forgot those laws of elemental transfiguration or whatever they were. Transfiguration is definitely not my best subject."

Cynthia giggled. "I totally failed at that one. Sirius Black was sitting in front of me and I couldn't stop staring."

Lily shook her head in disbelief. "What do you even see in him? He's almost as big of an idiot as James Potter."

"He's very good looking." Cynthia grinned to herself slightly, but then sighed. "He never notices me though. No matter what I do he's oblivious." Cynthia was very pretty, with caramel auburn hair that framed her delicate heart-shaped face, and bright chestnut brown eyes. She was very good at getting the attention of boys, and liked to keep them all hanging on to her.

"You've got plenty more who'd be delighted to date you. And you had that thing with Daniel a few weeks ago." Mary said.

Cynthia sighed. "I can still dream, can't I?"

"Dream about anyone other than him." Lily said.

"Fine! I'll dream about James Potter then. You'll love that!"

"Oh, heavens no." Lily groaned. "I meant anyone other than him. They're the worst. That Lupin isn't so bad, I've talked to him a lot when we have to do prefect duties together and that Pettigrew is a pushover."

"What've you got against Sirius Black?" Cynthia asked her. "You really hate the four of them. I think it's kind of sweet the way James Potter is still after you even though you insult him and reject him every day. I'd have given up long ago."

"He's an arrogant, conceited, bully who doesn't care about anyone but himself! You've seen what he's done to people, especially to – especially to people who have never done anything to him!" Lily caught herself just in time. She had been about to say _especially to Sev_, out of habit, but then she remembered what he had called her, and anger boiled inside of her. She could feel her cheeks turning red. Luckily, Mary and Cynthia didn't notice.

"It's just a bit of fun, that's all," Cynthia said loftily.

"I prefer to have my fun in different ways." Mary said, dropping her bags and leaning against the tree trunk.

"You'll always be much more sensible than me, then." Cynthia lay down in a patch of golden sunlight.

"Exactly. That's why I'll study now, and get a better mark than you on the practical than you." Mary laughed.

Lily stared at her notes, only half-reading them, not paying attention to the voices of her friends. Her eyelids felt very heavy. The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her.

"Lily. Lily. _Lily._ Wake up, it's lunchtime. "

"Uuhhhh." Lily groaned groggily and sat up. Mary and Cynthia were both looking at her. "Oh, no. How long was I out for?" she asked.

"Half an hour. Hurry up!" Cynthia called.

Lunch passed in a blur for Lily. She was very hungry, and almost all of the fifth years were studying for their last exam, looking forward to the end of the day and the end of their O.W.L's. They'd all be on the Hogwarts Express in a week's time. Lily felt slightly apprehensive about the summer. At home, Petunia was always resentful and hostile to her and she had normally spent most of her time outdoors with Sev. All of her other friends from Hogwarts lived too far away.

"Ooh, there's going to be such a party in the common room later tonight," Cynthia said happily. "I'm so glad those stupid O.W.L.'s are over. I never want to see another sheet filled with notes again!"

"Just you wait till we have to do N.E.W.T.S." said Mary.

Cynthia groaned. "I'm terrible at keeping notes. They're always spread out all over the place and I can never find them."

Lily gasped suddenly, remembering something. "Oh! My diary! I forgot it under the tree! Oh no, it's got all my notes and . . . other things in there!"

"Want us to come and help you look for it?" Mary offered.

"No, I'll be fine. I'll run and get it, it'll only take a few minutes." Lily said. "You two go on to dinner." She turned and briskly walked away.

"We'll save you a spot!" Cynthia called after her.

Lily half ran, half walked back to the tree. The summer sun hung low in the sky, sending its last golden rays across the sky. A faint breeze whispered through the trees, rustling the leaves and grass. Lily saw no sign of her diary under the tree. She cursed silently and began to search for it.

A sudden movement caught her eye. It was Sev, walking across the grounds, his nose buried in a large book. Lily jumped up and stood rooted to the spot, her mind whirling as she wondered what she should do. She really didn't want to see him. Lily made a quick decision and grabbed the nearest tree branch and used it to pull herself up. Lily slowly and clumsily clambered farther up the tree, hoping the thick green foliage would hide her. She was definitely not experienced in climbing trees.

Lily heard footsteps approaching. _Oh, damn, Sev saw me. Okay, I'm going to be cool about this. I'm just going to tell him to go away and leave me alone._

"Evans? What are you doing up there?" James Potter was standing below her at the bottom of the tree, looking up at her curiously.

"I'm climbing a tree. What does it look like I'm doing?" Lily snapped.

"No reason to get mad, Evans, just asking a friendly question."

"Well, I don't care. Go away. Where's your lackeys anyways?" she demanded.

"What lackeys? I haven't got any. If you mean my friends, that's none of your business. Although, if you want a hint, there may be a surprise in the common room later tonight."

"Ooh, Potter, you've finally learned what _lackeys_ means. Clever of you. Now go away."

James grinned, enjoying himself. "All thanks to you of course."

"What do you want anyways, Potter? Did your 'friends' abandon you because they finally realized what a desperate, attention seeking, bullying toerag you are?" Lily asked him, using her fingers to put quotation marks around the word "friends".

"You looked lonely. I thought you might need some company." He began to climb up the tree. Lily cursed and grumbled to herself. Stupid Potter. Nosing his way into everything. "I don't need company, Potter! Especially not yours." He was much faster at climbing than she was, and he reached the branch and sat down beside her.

"You call me an arrogant, self-centered toerag. If I really was self-centered, would I be bothering to provide someone who looks lonely with company?" James asked her.

Lily was flustered by this. "I'm not lonely! Potter, you're so annoying! Well, if you're not going away then I will!" Lily began to climb back down, muttering swear words under her breath.

"Need some help?" he asked her. James followed her easily down the tree.

"No! I'm a perfectly capable human being!" Lily looked down. The ground seemed much higher than it had been when she had first climbed. She took hold of a nearby branch and swung down, but she landed badly on the ground, teetering and waving her arms for balance. Lily felt herself falling forward.

A warm, strong hand grasped her shoulder, preventing her from falling. "Be careful there, Evans. Wouldn't want you getting hurt." Lily looked up into the hazel eyes of James.

"I don't need your help!" she said brusquely, but her stomach swooped suddenly for some inexplicable reason.

"That's nice. I save you from injury and this is the thanks I get?"

"I never said I wanted your help, so you're not getting any thanks from me." Lily knelt down to look for her diary.

"Is that what you came here for then? So you could dig around in the grass? Bit of an odd activity." James jumped out of the tree and came to stand over her.

"I forgot my diary and I came back to look for it." Lily said curtly.

"Does it look anything like this?" James pointed to a notebook half-hidden in the grass a few meters away.

"Yes! That's mine!" Lily grabbed it. "No thanks to you, Potter." She turned to leave.

"See ya later, Evans!" James called after her, a wide grin on his face. Lily snorted to herself in disgust and ran away to dinner.


End file.
